Trainee lawyer ‘cried rape 11 times to dodge barrister exams’

A lawyer training to be a barrister cried rape 11 times to get out of taking her exams, a court heard.

Rhiannon Brooker, 30, falsely accused her boyfriend of repeatedly raping and assaulting her which saw him charged and held in custody for 30 days, it was said.

But detectives could not find any evidence that Paul Fensome, 46, had carried out the attacks and arrested Brooker.

It then emerged she had used the allegations in a failed attempt to dodge her bar exams, Bristol crown court heard. Brooker is now standing trial for 11 false claims of rape and nine of assault, two of which included imprisonment allegations.

David Bartlett, prosecuting, said: ‘She was living an active social life and not doing the work required to pass the assessments, so she falsified the allegations to give substance to her extenuating circumstances forms.’

The court heard how ‘confident and outspoken’ Brooker moved from Birmingham to Bristol to take her qualifications at the University of the West of England. She claimed Mr Fensome, who she met in Birmingham, objected violently to the move and that he forced her to have sex a number of times.

Once she told a friend she had lost a baby because her boyfriend had punched her in the ribs, the court heard.